N2billion Scam: ECOWAS Commissioner, Adaoha Withdraws Account From Intercontinental Bank, Strikes Fresh Deal With UBA

Determined to cover their fraudulent tracks, two top officials of the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, Nigeria have moved the regional body’s funds totalling about N2 billion earlier lodged with Intercontinental Bank to another bank, United Bank for Africa where they have struck another deal.

The closure of the ECOWAS Commission’s accounts in Intercontinental Bank and the subsequent transfer of the huge funds in the account to UBA followed the exposure by iReports-ng in an exclusive report in May this year on a deal between the two ECOWAS officials; the Commissioner in charge of finance and administration, Mrs Adaoha C. Okwuosa and her finance director, Ibrahima Gueye, on one hand and the Intercontinental Bank’s regional director in charge of Abuja, Ijeoma O.

According to our findings on the scam, business for the three started when the donor funds which came in dollars were converted into naira at a rate below the prevailing market price with the extra gains shared by the trio. As if that was not enough, Ijeoma ordered that current accounts be opened for the two top officials of the Commission in the bank. This it was learnt was to make them agree on another deal of fixing the regional body’s funds in a fixed deposit (FD) account at a rate below the going interest rate.

iReports-ng further learnt that the extra cash made from that deal was again shared by the three partners with Ijeoma pocketing over N150 million, while the accounts already opened for the purpose for the two ECOWAS officials were equally credited with millions. While a source in the Commission claimed Adaoha got N100 million and Ibrahima N50 million,another source at the Abuja regional office of the bank insisted that Ibrahima’s account was only credited with N5 million. Our sources revealed that desperate moves were already made by the culprits especially Ijeoma to cover their tracks by doctoring the bank documents to erase the record of the transactions which were said to have been done without the knowledge of the leadership of the bank at its Lagos head office.

Our numerous sources in the ECOWAS Commission and the bank revealed that after our initial publication, two of the bank officials at its Gudu, near Apo legislative quarters branch who know the details of the deal were transferred out of the branch on the suspicion that they were behind the leakage. To further cover their tracks, Adaoha ordered that the funds should be moved out of the bank if its officials “cannot keep our secret secret.”

Her order was fully complied with by the end of September when the funds were transferred to UBA after she had struck yet another deal with some officials of the bank who promised to conceal the details of every transaction with her. Soon after our initial report in May, Adaoha mobilised her agents to send abusive comments to the publishers of iReports-ng with a view to intimidating us.

Mrs Adaoha Chibuzo Okwuosa (Nee Uzoma) was appointed Commissioner for Administration & Finance following the transformation of the old ECOWAS Secretariat into ECOWAS Commission on 1 February 2007, an Office she will vacate by February 2011 after the completion of her four year tenure. According to her profile obtained, Adaoha, was born on 12th November 1946, holds a B.A double honours degree in Political Science and Sociology of University of Sussex, England. In 1975, she got a D. Phil degree (Cum Laude) in Sociology with political Science as a subsidiary from Albert-Ludwig’s-University, Freiburg, Germany.